The Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication evolved from the Project for Advanced Research in Global Communication and succeeds what was formerly known as the Center for Global Communication Studies.

The lecture, Internet Privacy in China: Historical and Cultural Background, Present Legal Framework and Future Improvement, traces the historical and cultural background of Internet privacy in China and the evolving legal frameworks for protecting the right to privacy and the right to Internet privacy.

The 2013 Milton Wolf seminar addressed the critical role of diplomats and journalists in shaping the outcomes of what we call global geopolitical pivots. Discussions explored the critical role of narrative construction in shaping diplomatic outcomes vis-à-vis these case studies. How do diplomats, journalists, and other stakeholders seek to advocate for particular outcomes, and to what effect? Conversely, how do these geopolitical pivots or shifts affect on-going narratives of democratization, shifts from authoritarian regimes, and the role of media and communications in diplomacy?

The challenge facing NGOs is that while there is increasing pressure to ‘do M&E,’ there is no single answer to the question of how M&E should be done across the range of development sectors, approaches, organizations and contexts. The Goldilocks Problem proposes a framework for building ‘right-fit’ M&E systems, replacing the default impact imperative with two guiding principles: feasibility (‘Is it within the organization’s capacity to carry out this M&E activity fully and well?’) and actionability (‘Can the outputs of this M&E activity be used to inform decision making and action?’). This approach does not replace the need for rigorous impact evaluation, but rather complements it by helping NGOs create M&E systems that can provide them with the information they need to promote effective development.

In this talk, Dr. Pedram Partovi will consider the place of rumor in recent Iranian history. In general, scholars have associated the work of rumor with pre-modern societies – before the emergence of national ideologies or mass political organization (with the mass media contributing to these phenomena). However, rumor has held a vital role in political communication and mobilization in modern Iran.

On April 4th the New Technologies, Human Rights, and Transparency project will hold a day-long invitation-only workshop to determine the scope and focus of general research and case study research to be conducted in 2013. The project brings together research partners from across the university and around the world to develop a methodology to evaluate and compare the policies and practices of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies as they affect Internet users’ freedom expression and privacy in a human rights context.

Dorothy Chou, a Senior Policy Analyst who leads Google’s efforts to increase transparency, will discuss Google’s Transparency Report with Rebecca MacKinnon, Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation and author of Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom. They will then be joined by a panel of international experts who will react to the report and discuss the question of whether accountable governance in any society is possible without sufficient transparency and accountability in how companies respond to government censorship and surveillance demands.

This presentation will give a brief overview of implementing evidence-based practices in global health and global mental health research. Specifically, it will address challenges and lessons learned around monitoring and evaluation (M&E) implementation in low and middle income countries (LMIC). Discussion will include future directions for implementation science and bi-directional learning with global and domestic D&I research.